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Jen

@cassiciacum.bsky.social
7.4K followers 3.5K following 19K posts

Making Texas higher education great again. Classics/late antiquity/early Christianity. Sports ball fan.

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Reposted by Jen
David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 6h
“Cutting this much from the university budget will mean that some of the core functions of the university will be lost. It’s not possible to just do more with less — to work smarter, to trim around the edges. We’re going to have to do less with less.” Gift link: www.startribune.com/umn-cuts-sta...
startribune.com
Perry: What we lose if the U cuts $225 million
"Austerity doesn’t work. Instead, it creates a death spiral, where reduction in services leads to reductions in revenue, which lead to reductions in services, which leads to reduction in revenue, whic...
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Jen @cassiciacum.bsky.social · 7h
Also: how do states that rely on property taxes survive this? They’ve unrelentingly jacked up assessed values for a decade plus.
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Jen @cassiciacum.bsky.social · 7h
Oh no.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 7h
I'm due to teach our 20th c. US history graduate seminar this spring, and while I don't have the new one worked up yet, here's what I taught last time around. (And I'm sorry, I can't alt-text these as they're much too long.) Part 1:
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David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 8h
Interestingly, this is why alt was coded into early html - because images were so slow to load so this would convey info while waiting in ye olde dialup tymes.
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Jen @cassiciacum.bsky.social · 9h
My 81 year old mom had breast cancer this summer. Thankfully she’s doing well post-surgery, tolerating the aromatase inhibitor well. She made this banner for October. Younger me didn’t appreciate what a bad ass she would become in retirement.
White brick two story home decorated with spiders and Halloween decor and a large pink banner that encourages older women to get their mammograms.
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Johnathan Perkins @johnathanperk.bsky.social · 9h
What is Things only white men can say
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Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 10h
Nobody’s going to read your name in a language nobody speaks! I’m telling you: to be remembered in the future, what you need to do is build a giant stone monument to your deathless majesty. Even the trunkless legs will inspire songs!
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Whitney Curry Wimbish @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social · 12h
Just a massive human trafficking ring, forcing vulnerable people from place to place, ruining their lives, all to make a buck
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Hyperallergic @hyperallergic.com · 12h
Beneath the ruins of the Baths of Trajan, a giant mosaic and unusual fresco remind us of the continual discovery of the wondrous: Rome’s ongoing lesson.
hyperallergic.com
The Breathtaking Sight of Ancient Rome's Largest Surviving Wall Mosaic
Beneath the ruins of the Baths of Trajan, a giant mosaic and unusual fresco remind us of the continual discovery of the wondrous: Rome’s ongoing lesson.
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 12h
Hegseth: “Today, at my direction, I’m establishing the Office of Religious Affairs.”
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 12h
Hegseth: “I don’t need to give a sermon about the failings of higher education. You get it. I once wrote a book about it.”
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13h
Hegseth: "We need students of western civilization and the pillars of our republic. Leaders who understand the faith of Jerusalem, the philosophy of anthems -- Athens. The power of Rome, and the freedom of Philadelphia circa 1776."
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 13h
This is truly amazing—RFK Jr openly, gladly, joyfully telling people that under his leadership of the US health system, actual public health expertise, training, & experience is no longer needed. All that’s needed to lead the US health agencies is a past history of being a right wing blogger!
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 20h
Delightful also to hear real eagle noises. In movies eagles are always dubbed with hawks, since hawks found fierce and eagles sound like adorable squeakers.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 22h
Something remarkable is happening: James Talarico is running an expansively pro-immigrant campaign in Texas, a state Trump won by 14 points, speaking in Biblical terms about our duty to "the stranger." And it's resonating. That's seismic. 1/ (new piece) newrepublic.com/article/2160...
newrepublic.com
In Texas, Something Seismic Is Happening—and It’s All Trump’s Fault
Thanks to the economy and ICE, Trump has lost Texas Latinos. And James Talarico is developing a humane pro-immigrant message that’s resonating—even in this ultra-Trumpy state.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 30/09/2026
Eugenics 🤝 ai www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...
One of the things that is going to change is that we’re never ever again going to be able to be dominated by public officials who tell us, ‘Trust the experts,’” Mr. Kennedy said during the Tuesday session.

“If somebody tells you, ‘Masks work, trust the experts,’ A.I. may tell you otherwise,” he added. “If somebody tells you, ‘Social distancing works, trust the experts,’ A.I. may correct that. And if somebody tells you that a vaccine will prevent transmission and infection, or you need to take it to protect your grandmother, A.I. may say it actually doesn’t do that.”
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David W (aka Flex NP) @rnflex.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Full Retatrutide phase 3 obesity data published today. It's gonna take a minute to fill dissect this. The appendix alone has 70 pages of data. Long story short we created a drug that's almost too good. Huge chunks of people stopped or reduced doses from excess weight reductions.
nejm.org
Retatrutide, a Triple Hormone Receptor Agonist, for Treatment of Obesity | NEJM
Retatrutide is a triple-receptor agonist of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide-1, and glucagon receptors. In this phase 3, randomized, double-blind trial, we assign...
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Timberdoodle @timberdoodlydoo.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
OMFG HE BLESSED THE SOX
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Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is a human rights abuse worthy of prosecution under intentional law. Minimally, they should be impeached and removed for this alone.
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Lisa Song @lisalsong.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The proposed rule is from OMB, the office run by Russell Vought -- who has a history of opposing government efforts to expand access to voting.
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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 29/09/2026
man the republicans who hate language policing are going to be so mad about this
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Which is ... what, exactly?
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 29/09/2026
Mike Johnson on cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid: "We did program integrity measures, took those people off the system, and you know what it did? It strengthened Medicaid. We have to do more of that work."
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Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is lovely. Sing it from the rooftops.
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Douglas Reyes-CeroÑ @dreyesceron.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Star Spangled Banner being played by the Mariachi Herencia de Mexico band before the Bears-Eagles game in Chicago on Monday Night Football was a deeply cool thing to see tonight
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Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Ah, not only are professions that are crucial to society--teaching, social work, nursing, libraries, arts--being denied support. Almost all of those are fields traditionally held by women. Not a coincidence.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
When they get back in power, Democrats need to go all-in on higher education. We need a campaign of reinvestment in public universities across the country that makes the Morrill Land-Grant Act look like nothing by comparison *and* a GI Bill of Rights-style program of tuition grants.
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Dr Katie Twomey @k2mey.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026
This is quite cool. My university is the first organisation in the world to force Microsoft to allow us to turn off copilot summaries in Word 365, after a backlash against it from staff (including, very vocally, me). That cannot have been easy for our heroic IT people so hats very much off to them!
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E. Hochman @erhochman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The History Department at SMU is hiring a full professor who will also serve as department chair. Field is open. apply.interfolio.com/193610
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Texas Tribune has identified the ICE agent who witnesses say fired through an open van window and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston nearly three months ago. www.texastribune.org/2026/09/28/h...
texastribune.org
ICE agent who shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston identified
The federal government has withheld his identification, even as major state and local law enforcement agencies across the country typically identify officers involved in shootings on the job soon afte...
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Tiffany⸆⸉ @tiffanyclay.dev · 29/09/2026
I saw my first Ken Paxton sign in the wild today. Imagine advertising that to your neighbors of your own free will.
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Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · 29/09/2026
In Texas, the State is removing climate change courses from the core curriculum. They have decided that climate change is just too dangerous to teach the students. This is indoctrination. I wrote an oped about it in the SA Express-News. Gift link: www.expressnews.com/opinion/comm...
expressnews.com
Texas can’t hide from climate change by stopping students from learning about it
Texas has removed climate change courses from core curriculum at public universities. Ignoring climate change will not serve the state.
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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Just noting that data centers are NOT popular among Texans. *A UT/Texas Politics Project poll in late August found 57% of bipartisan voters oppose a data center in their community *A June poll by the same outfit found a majority of Texans oppose it -- including nearly 2/3 of Texans in rural areas
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John B Des Moines @john-b-des-moines.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is a deeply personal issue for me. I'm asking, please donate to your local food bank. Food security is a complex problem. It was very large. Now the Republicans have made it absolutely colossal. Please help, now and throughout the year.
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Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
NEW: On Pope Leo’s World Day of Migrants, Cardinal McElroy told Catholics to “fight every dimension” of the Trump administration’s war on immigrants and to replace politicians who tolerate it. “In abandoning the words of Deuteronomy and of the Statue of Liberty, we are losing our soul as a nation.”
thelettersfromleo.com
On Pope Leo’s World Day of Migrants, Cardinal McElroy Indicts Trump’s War on Immigrants
Preaching on the Good Samaritan for World Day of Migrants, Washington’s archbishop named Minneapolis, a five-year-old used as bait, and a nation that “passed on by.” He told Catholics to fight every d...
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Once again, I gotta say: you cannot treat anything you’re feeding into an AI as anonymous. There are enormous ethics implications for, e.g. referees who are clearly uploading others’ unpublished papers without consent, let alone health care professionals or law enforcement
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Laprofmme @laprofmme.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
AP and dual enrollment. And convincing students that these HS courses are not like a real college course, mostly because they are full of HS students, is so hard when they’ve been sold the message that “good” students can do college in HS
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"The same employee...pointed to Vanderbilt’s use of funds on new campuses in New York and San Francisco rather than focusing on the established schools the uni already has." One of the reasons that vandy nymag piece was so bad is that it skipped these issues nashvillebanner.com/2026/09/25/v...
nashvillebanner.com
Vanderbilt Divinity School in receivership - Nashville Banner
Vanderbilt Divinity School has been placed into receivership as university administration looks to restructure operations, reevaluate investment.
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Charlotte Canning @cmcanning.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I want actual research and evidence that a shortened time to degree has a positive impact on student development and preparation. So far the arguments seem to be students take too long so let’s just ask less of them. The argument seems to be it will be cheaper. Where is the data about what works?
thecollegeinvestor.com
Nearly 60 Colleges Are Now Pursuing 3-Year Bachelor's Degrees — Here's What's Driving the Movement
Nearly 60 colleges now offer or are developing 3-year bachelor’s degrees. Learn which schools, how the programs work, and what the tradeoffs are.
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Jen @cassiciacum.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I hate the stupid times we are living through (or at least trying to live through despite the federal and state governments’ best efforts to kill us).
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Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
His logic is pretty unassailable. We keep assailing the negotiators.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Oh. My. God.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I don't disagree with the thread below but frame it somewhat differently as an academic who regularly sees people who read for a living fail in the way described here. From that perspective it seems more a cultural crisis than an educational one
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Jen @cassiciacum.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I teach Latin and history. I frequently have engineering students in my classes. I love them because they work hard and are curious.
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 27/09/2026
Ah yes, the function was fine, it was just the FORMAT that people objected to.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 25/09/2026
It’s really stunning how the USA has so swiftly shifted from being one of the most techno-optimistic and tech-industry-loving countries on earth, to a country where most people seem to assume - not incorrectly, at least in many cases - that tech is out to get them.
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
So much of schools "responding to rape" is preventing the legal system from doing so. This is a report on seven adults who committed serious felonies for which there is a legal system to remind them and their pals that they are felonies.
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Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · 25/09/2026
🚨 BREAKING: In a major loss for voters, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to allow the Trump administration to initiate voter roll purges using a flawed database involving Americans' private data. The ruling will disproportionately impact naturalized citizens who've been wrongly flagged in the system.
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Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Pope Leo: “If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a ‘paradise of machines’ invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment and the capacity to acknowledge the moral good.”
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